By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Last Thursday, TNA wrapped up a disappointing year in the TV ratings department. For the year, Impact delivered a 1.02 rating averaging all 52 shows, the lowest of the last six years.

Impact was down 12.8 percent compared to a 1.17 ratings average in 2011.

In mid-2012, Impact moved up one hour on Spike TV, but Impact was already well on its way to a one-tenth decline in TV ratings compared to 2011.

During the first-half of 2012 (January 5 to May 24), Impact averaged a 1.07 rating. During the second-half of the year going an hour earlier and going live throughout, Impact averaged a 0.97 rating.

The trend: 1.17 rating in 2011, 1.07 rating first-half of 2012, and 0.97 rating second-half of 2012.

Being live vs. taped did not make a difference, contrary to what TNA was selling when Impact moved up one hour in May. Unlike WWE Raw, which had a different problem of losing third hour viewers but getting people to tune in an hour earlier at 8:00 p.m. EST, TNA just never could gain traction in the earlier first hour.

This is exemplified by the following statistic: out of the 31 episodes in TNA's new timeslot, only five episodes scored a 1.0 rating or above in the new first hour.

The following is a look at the last six years of Impact TV ratings on Spike.

2007 - 1.05 rating
2008 - 1.06 rating
2009 - 1.15 rating (pre-Hogan)
2010 - 1.06 rating (includes switch to Monday nights & switch back to Thursdays)
2011 - 1.17 rating
2012 - 1.02 rating (1.07 first-half, 0.97 second-half)

2011 was viewed as a rebound year for TNA after the 2010 Monday night experiment, then trying to re-find their audience again on Thursday nights. 2011 also benefited from one-time ratings spikes and changes to Creative that seemed to hold promise.

In 2012, TNA did not go for one-time ratings spikes, which showed good discipline. But, the product never really gained traction with casual viewers. TNA kept the hardcore fans engaged throughout the year, but the lack of a strong, central, #1 lead star or a strong hook to the product did not attract newer viewers.

Mid-way through the year, TNA introduced the Aces & Eights angle, which showed zero ratings growth short-term, then TNA continued with the angle well-past its expiration date despite no signs of ratings growth long-term.

The result was the peak rating of the year came in January when the Jan. 19 episode scored a 1.20 rating. During the earlier timeslot in the second-half of the year, the peak rating was a 1.16 rating on August 23 prior to the start of the fall season.

Month By Month Break Down:

Jan. 2012: 1.15 rating
Feb. 2012: 1.11 rating
Mar. 2012: 1.04 rating
Apr. 2012: 1.01 rating
May 2012: 1.01 rating (includes first live show 5/31)
June 2012: 0.98 rating
July 2012: 0.96 rating
Aug. 2012: 1.04 rating (reversed six-month slide)
Sept. 2012: 0.98 rating
Oct. 2012: 0.92 rating (BFG month)
Nov. 2012: 0.96 rating
Dec. 2012: 0.97 rating

Most-concerning in the month-by-month break down is that October was the lowest-rated month of 2012. It reflects TNA's inability to get viewers excited for the culmination of the BFG Series, the main event for Bound for Glory, and fall-out from BFG setting up the next season of feuds and angles. Granted, TNA was up against increased NFL competition on Thursday nights, but a sudden change to the main event scene from September to October at the conclusion of the BFG Series contributed to a poor performance in TNA's biggest month of the year.

The month-by-month break down also shows where momentum was lost - February leading into March, which is WWE's biggest month of the year building toward WrestleMania. In January, TNA was riding a wave of momentum from 2011, but the momentum was lost by March. Whether it was the product not connecting with viewers or casual wrestling fans getting their wrestling fix from WWE during the Mania build-up, TNA did not recover until August. But, after August, TNA lost viewers again during the start of the fall season, which included more NFL games on Thursday nights.

The best bet for TNA is that 2012 was their "growing pains year" after shaking up Creative, trying to "re-build," moving up an hour earlier to make room for Bellator on Spike TV in 2013, and finding some homegrown stars to build around in future years. But, Creative was not strong year-end, with a handful of Impact episodes feeling pointless and devoid of purpose, plus featuring Brooke Hogan in a role that is bound to turn away more viewers than attract.

TNA has settled into a rounded 1.0 rating and 1.3 million viewers, so it will be difficult for the show to go lower than the 2012 average in 2013 barring a complete disaster Creatively in 2013.

Finding one or two key stars to build around in 2013 will help, but they continue to struggle to find anyone who can move the needle for this company. And, presenting under-hyped, under-sold star vs. star match-ups in a careless, flippant manner - similar to WWE - is not going to make a difference. Neither will the Hogan Knows Best saga or Aces & Eights's involvement barring big changes to the presentation of both. 2012 captured that story well-enough.

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